Australian Animation Industry Takes the Spotlight at Mifa

Cheeky Little Media’s Patrick Egerton, Ludo Studio’s Chloe Hume, Princess Bento Studio’s Laura DiMaio, Studio Showoff’s Sean Zwan and Dave Enterprises’ Michael Pattison convened in Annecy for a panel moderated by Flying Bark Productions’ Barbara Stephen to discuss the global success of the Australian animation industry.

Australia has pumped out several huge hits over the recent years, with Bluey being the biggest success of all. The main takeaway from the panel is that these hits are made possible through the help of a robust government funding system at both the state and federal level, a propensity for collaboration over competition and the commitment to nurturing up-and-coming talent.

Hume, head of development at Ludo Studio, producer of Bluey, noted that the series began with short-form content, which went on to win a couple of awards, which then “enabled us to get enterprise funding from the government. That allowed us to get scaffolding for the business, and [allowed] the production company to take on board an idea like Bluey. The Australian model helps us because we get that support from the government, whether that’s state or federal. That allows us to put that time into development to really champion an idea.”

The support from Screen Queensland and Screen Australia, along with the backing of ABC and BBC, isn’t all that allowed Bluey to become the phenomenon it is. Its authenticity is a key factor of its global success. “Creator Joe Brumm and the team at Ludo Studio with Daley [Pearson], Charlie [Aspinwall] and Sam [Moor] and all the artists and animators set out to make something that felt authentic for them,” Hume explained. “That’s why it resonates with everyone because it comes from that heartfelt place.”

“It’s very reflective of our culture,” added Stephen, CEO of Flying Bark. “I’ve had a lot of conversations in the last couple of days about how important it is that whether we’re in France or Australia, we can maintain our sense of cultural identity. Something like Bluey opened the door in many ways to have projects that resonate globally but that can be really authentically Australian and not have to be modified for particular audiences.”

The support of short content—like with the start of Bluey—is essential in today’s climate. Stephen noted that Screen Australia recently announced it is going to support short films again after a long pause. “Short films are what launch creators and directors,” she said. “So, where funding agencies can back that process, they can have enormous success.”

This ties into the Australian industry’s strong support for up-and-coming talent. “Everyone knows that animation is difficult,” noted Pattison, head of production at Dave Enterprises. “You can’t just come straight out of school, straight into a job.”

DiMaio, head of production at Princess Bento Studio, lauded VicScreen’s GameChanger Academy, which allows new graduates to spend 12 weeks learning how to work in studios across different departments, develop their skills further and figure out how schedules and budgets work. VicScreen “recognizes that [there is] that gap between when a new graduate finishes uni and is ready to work in our studio,” she said. “As an animator, you’re on the treadmill from the moment you get into the studio, and you have a quota, and we try and provide as much support as we can, but we have a schedule and a budget. It’s really hard to get used to that style of working when you’ve never been in a pipeline before.”

“We have been really fortunate to have very active state governments that are really enthusiastic and aware of the value of animation and visual effects in the local industry,” agreed Stephen.

Ausfilm brings together Australia’s screen business and government agencies to offer a variety of tax incentives for Australians and international producers as well. The post-digital effects offset is a federal fund of 30 percent for almost all spend in Australia, Stephen noted. “It does cover a lot of the animation workflow. If there’s enough ‘Australianness’ in your show, you would qualify potentially for the producer offset, which is also 30 percent. If you’re doing a feature and it’s got enough ‘Australianness,’ it would actually be 40 percent.”

On the state side, it ranges from 10 percent to 20 percent. So, overall, “you’re somewhere in the 40 to 50 percent range. That is an indication of just how important our agencies and governments see investment in this space.”

Egerton, co-founder and chief content officer of Cheeky Little Media, said, “We can put together quite a lot of finance out of Australia, which is important because, particularly in the kids’ game, you have to be entrepreneurial as a producer. You have to be outward-facing, and you have to build a really important international network of contacts to be able to put together the jigsaw puzzle that is a finance plan for a show. Being able to have that backstop, that foundational support, in your own country that you can count on is really important.”

The success of Australian animation on the global stage is also derived from the supportive nature of its creatives and their dedication to collaboration. “From the perspective of somebody who’s tried to break into that L.A. pitching circuit for many years, it’s super tough, and it can feel like a really exclusive club,” said Zwan, founder, producer and director at Studio Showoff. “Australia seems very supportive of its creators, even artist to artist and creator to creator. There’s a great group of people.”

He continued, “When you’re pitching things as a creator, you try and fail and try and fail and keep pushing. The group of artists in Australia support each other so well. We have Loopdeloop, which is an animation even that’s completely nonprofit. It’s a monthly thing where a big group of artists all get together, watch each other’s work and clap. You don’t have to be the big kid on the block. Everybody supports everybody. That’s something that’s really nice about Australia.”